Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams (right) together with Biometrics Program Manager of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Mauricio Siciliano (middle).

St. Maarten– Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams received a courtesy call from Mauricio Siciliano, Biometrics Program Manager of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) yesterday at her cabinet in preparation for the conference which starts today until Thursday.

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations, created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protection. The organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 190 contracting states. The ICAO Machine Readable Travel Documents and biometrics program develops and adopts international standards for international travel document (e.g. a passport, electronic passport, visa and ID cards used for travel) containing eye-and machine-readable data.

The MRTD Regional Seminar will assist member states in implementing ICAO machine-readable travel document specifications and related ICAO standards and recommended practices. The seminar will specifically address the needs of states to further enhance the integrity of the passport issuance process and ensure robust identification management in order to maximize border security and facilitation benefits.

In particular, the St. Maarten regional seminar will focus on the very foundation of travel document and border security: a robust national identification management system. Seminar presentations and discussions will explore in depth key components of identification management, including the role of civil registries, evidence of identification, social footprint and investigative methods of confirming it, manufacturing and personalization of national ID cards, data sharing between national agencies involved in identification management, and much more.

An industry exhibition will complement the seminar with a broad range of products and services related to MRTDs, biometric identification, travel document security applications and border inspection systems. Seminar participants will have an opportunity to interact with ICAO industry partners and experts to discuss the latest available technologies.

Representatives from various governmental and non-governmental departments have registered for the conference and delegates from some 42 countries will be in attendance. Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams will open the three-day conference at the Sonesta Maho Resort this morning.